Justice League - Act 1: Genesis
by ULTRA SONIC
Summary: Post Superman Returns and Dark Knight Rises. A new threat has arrived, and now the world's greatest heroes - old, new, unknown, and in one case, retired - must band together to stop this new threat.
1. Prolouge

Disclaimer: I do not own the Justice League or any of the characters except for any original ones I make myself. They belong to DC Comics/Warner Bros and their respective creators.

AN: For those of you that read "Baby it's Snowy Outside", and "Meetings of Undeniable Fate", and remembered me saying that they were teasers for another fic? Well, _this_ is the fic I was talking about. Originally I wanted to put this out earlier, but since I wanted to incorporate Chris Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy as well as Superman: The Movie, Superman II (The Donner cut) and Superman Returns in this fic, I decided to wait until DKRises came out so I could get as much reference material from that movie as I could.

Now in no way is this written to take away from what Man of Steel is going to be, or what a possible JL movie could be. This is just me getting a good idea from a really awesome family member and several talented authors here on this site, and just wanting to bring that idea to life.

* * *

Prologue

_In this vast place that is the universe, there are many stories and legends that people know of, and then there are some that are not so known._

_However, on a planet called Earth, there is one constant legend that all sentient beings the world over know of, and it is of two distinct individuals: Superman and Batman, known in some circles as "The World's Finest"._

_But to truly understand why these two heroes are the great legends that they are, it is best to see where they came from and what were the events that shaped them into who and what they are now._

_For Superman, his origin story can almost be likened to that of the story of Moses with a touch of science-fiction and fantasy._

_Once, in a far-off galaxy, there was a civilization…much like the ones on Earth. However, this civilization was distinct from Earth in the sense that they had a much greater intelligence, greater powers, and a greater capacity for good._

_But even all those traits would not be enough to save them from a fate that many arrogantly felt would never come to pass._

_But for one scientist by the name of Jor-El, that fate was indeed coming, and soon. Knowing they had no moments to spare, he tried desperately to convince his peers to realize the horror that was to come and to act quickly to save their civilization._

_However, much to his dismay, his pleas were dismissed._

_Still determined to not let Krypton die, Jor-El and his wife Lara made the decision to place their only son Kal-El in a spacecraft Jor-El had built and send him off to another world before Krypton exploded._

_Naturally, Lara being Kal-El's mother protested to this, believing Earth to be too primitive to send their son there, but Jor-El argued that _that_ advantage alone would be more than sufficient for Kal-El to survive, and that the planet's very ecology would 'sustain him'. In addition, he would be able to pass as one of them easily due to the physical similarities between Kryptonian human beings and Earth human beings._

_Lara only replied that even with those advantages, their son would still be treated as an outcast, and as such he would feel isolated and alone, to which Jor-El said firmly, "He will not be alone. He will never be alone."_

_After giving some final words of paternal wisdom to his son, Jor-El then placed Kal-El in the ship and launched him off into space, just moments before Krypton would undergo its final earthquake that would ultimately destroy it._

_Upon crash-landing on Earth (specifically in a field in Smallville, Kansas), Kal-El was found by a kind farmer and his wife (who ironically enough were never able to have children of their own), and was christened the name Clark Kent. But as time would pass and he would learn of his abilities and the fact that he wasn't from anywhere on Earth, Kal-El would then undergo a journey that would ultimately turn him into the greatest hero the world had ever known…Superman._

_For a time, it seemed that Kal-El had found his destiny, but things would take an unexpected turn when he finally opened up to Lois Lane, a woman who was not only his co-worker at the Daily Planet newspaper, but was also someone he had grown to love. However, no sooner did he make the decision to give up his powers to be with her did one of Krypton's arch-criminals General Zod and his cohorts Non and Ursa (who were all jailed by none other than Jor-El himself) break free from their imprisonment in the Phantom Zone, and upon quick discovery of their powers, wasted no time in consolidating control. Knowing that only he had the ability to stop Zod, Kal-El returned to the Fortress of Solitude to tell his father Jor-El that he had failed. However, typical of Jor-El even in death, the latter had already anticipated his son forsaking his own heritage for love, and decided that, as he had once sacrificed his own life before to give his son a new life, so he would do so again. The process worked, and Superman was successful in defeating Zod and his cohorts._

_But no sooner had that conflict been resolved did the Hubble space telescope then discover the location where astronomers believed Krypton was._

_Determined to see for himself where his homeworld was and see if there were any survivors out there, Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman set off for it, in spite of the protests from his adoptive mother and especially his Dark Knight acquaintance from Gotham city, whom he had met during a case the latter had been working on shortly after Zod's defeat and just before the Hubble's discovery of Krypton's location. Although he understood his comrade's reasoning, Batman still couldn't help but feel that it was a fool's errand. Undeterred, Kal-El set off for Krypton's location._

_Discovering nothing more than a graveyard, a disappointed Kal-El then set a return to Earth, where upon returning he had learned that many things had transpired in the five years he had been away. His mother and Ben Hubbard had gotten quite close in a romantic sense, and Lois had moved on in more ways than one. She had finally won the Pulitzer she had wanted, but to Kal-El's shock, it had been on an article on why the world didn't need a Superman. In addition, she had met and gotten engaged to Perry White's nephew Richard, who was slated to succeed his uncle once the latter retired. Not only that, but they also had a child together, which only served to catch Kal-El more off guard than ever before._

_And things were only about to get more complicated, for unbeknownst to Superman, Lex Luthor had managed to get released from prison (partly due to Superman's absence) and through a series of events was able to locate the Fortress of Solitude and steal all of the crystals there for yet another diabolical plan of his. This time, it was to re-create the extinct world of Krypton on Earth – a plan that would doom most, if not all of North America, and subjugate the rest of the planet to his whim._

_Meanwhile, Kal-El was still determined to try and set things straight with Lois (on a professional level, since he already knew trying to pursue her was pointless), and met with her to explain that even if _she_ believed that Earth did not need a savior, that still didn't mean that people weren't crying out for one. During this Lois had wondered if she ever really moved on from Superman._

_Later upon learning that the crystals were stolen from the fortress, and that both Lois and her son Jason were in trouble, Kal-El then managed to locate both thanks to Richard and photojournalist Jimmy Olsen, and after making sure they were safe, he then confronted Luthor on the island the latter had created, only to find out too late that it had been a trap set up by Luthor who had purposely laced the island with Kryptonite, thus allowing him and his henchmen to have the upper hand._

_Though he was stabbed with a kryptonite shard and literally kicked off the island left to drown, Kal-El was eventually found by Lois and Richard._

_Already formulating a plan to stop both Luthor and keep the island from growing any further, Kal-El then left Richard's plane (in spite of Lois's protests) and headed to the sun to re-energize himself enough for what he was about to do. Although he managed to put as much distance between himself and the kryptonite as possible, Kal-El wasn't able to keep some of the shards from protruding out to where he was as he was trying to lift the island away from Earth and towards the sun (which, even with the extra charge was still an arduous task). As agonizing as it was for him to lift the island with the kryptonite so close, Kal-El managed to summon up the will to push forward, and he succeeded in sending the island on a path toward the sun that would eventually destroy the island itself._

_As the Man Of Steel was recovering in Metropolis General Hospital after the police and paramedics found him nearly comatose, Lois managed to go see him alongside her son and told Superman that Jason was not Richard's son, but in reality…he was Kal-El's – something she only suspected, but never really knew for sure, given that she had slept with Richard shortly after meeting him. However, after she had seen Jason push the piano towards one of Luthor's henchmen to save her, Lois's suspicions were confirmed._

_After he fully recovered, Kal-El then met with Lois and said that he still wanted to be a part of Jason's life, in spite of how things had been left between him and Lois when he left for Krypton. However, he didn't want to have Richard be left out of Jason's life, since the latter did care for the boy for five years along with Lois and as such didn't deserve to be casted off to the side just because of the circumstances being what they were. Lois then pointed out that this would mean that Richard would have to be told of Superman's true identity and everything else, to which the latter had no problem with, since he knew the man was more than trustworthy. Of course, things weren't easy after Richard was told everything and as such things between the three were not resolved overnight, but as time passed things slowly improved, and right around that same time Lex Luthor returned. Having managed to escape the island he and his associate Kitty had ended up being stranded on, and now believing that Jason was indeed Superman's son, Luthor set about coming up with a plan that would not only get rid of the Man of Steel for good, but the boy as well. However, having learned from his previous encounters with Luthor, Kal-El managed to outthink the criminal mastermind and beat him at his own game. In the end, Luthor lost, and not just in regards to having his plan foiled, but he also ended up sealing his own fate when he tried a last ditch effort to kill Superman, which in the end, caused Luthor to be the victim of his own weapon._

_Sometime after that, Kal-El and Lois finally reconciled completely, and in no time at all (and with Richard's blessing interestingly enough), they were married._

* * *

_With Batman his origin story is much darker than his brother-at-arms', but it is no less an epic one._

_Born as the son and heir to a couple who were not only people of great influence, but of upstanding morality and selflessness, Bruce Wayne was born to a world of privilege and extravagance that was tempered with a good moral sense and how to be able to overcome adversity regardless of any mistakes made, as his father Thomas Wayne once told him:_

"_Why do we fall, Bruce? So we can learn to pick ourselves up."_

_Although he had nothing less than a happy childhood, it sadly would not be meant to last, for young Bruce Wayne's destiny would eventually be written in blood…and bullets._

_Sometime later, Thomas and Martha Wayne took their son to a theatre to see a show, but due to the characters reminding Bruce of his frightening encounter with bats not too long ago, he asked his parents if they could leave, which they did._

_But no sooner did they leave were they then mugged by a street crook named Joe Chill, who then killed both of Bruce's parents after stealing their money._

_Although Bruce was not physically harmed, he was emotionally distraught beyond reason and blamed himself for his parent's deaths for a long time until after having graduated college he learned Joe Chill was about to be released from jail in exchange for testifying against Moroni, who was one of the crime bosses in Gotham city. However, one of the crime boss's henchmen killed Chill before he could even do so. Already angered at being robbed of his own vengeance against Chill, Bruce reached his breaking point when he confronted Moroni and realized the corruption had reached even those who were supposed to uphold the law in the city. Making a decision, Bruce then left Gotham to travel the world to understand the criminal element. However, along the way he ended up incarcerated due to ironically stealing from his father's own company, which led to him meeting Henri Ducard, a representative of Ra's Al Ghul, who was the head of an organization called the League of Shadows. It seemed that Ra's had learned of Bruce Wayne being arrested and sent Ducard to recruit him into the League since he was also aware of what happened to Bruce's parents and why their only son chose to leave Gotham._

_Making his way to the League's headquarters, Bruce then expressed his desire to find the means to fight the injustice and corruption in his city, a request Ra's granted._

_As Bruce trained under the tutelage of Ducard, the former eventually reached the point where he was considered ready to lead a team of the League's best warriors, but before he could, he had to exact final justice on a criminal by killing him, which Bruce could not, and would not bring himself to do, despite his training and his own desire for vengeance. As a result, Bruce and Ra's fought, which destroyed the League of Shadows' headquarters. However, Bruce managed to escape with his mentor Ducard and left him in a nearby village where he would be looked after while Bruce began his way back home._

_Although he hadn't met his blood brother Superman yet, Bruce Wayne realized (just like Kal-El did) that the only way to inspire the common men and women to rise from apathy was to lead by example, and in the case of Gotham, it would have to be done in a very dramatic way. And so positioning himself as a public crusader would not accomplish what was needed in Gotham. However, as a symbol…a symbol that could not be corrupted or destroyed…that was what Bruce was looking for._

_Deciding to conquer his fear of bats once and for all, Bruce then headed back to the cave where he had fallen in years ago. Once exposing himself to the bats, he then finally conquers his fear, and as a result, decides to use that very element to take down the corruption._

_With help from his butler/guardian/longtime friend Alfred Pennyworth, as well as his father's old colleague Lucius Fox, Bruce Wayne then set to work putting together everything he needed to set his plan into action. Once he had all the elements together, Bruce Wayne, or Batman as he was now known in some circles, began his war on crime in earnest, making an ally in Jim Gordon, as well as stopping Ra's Al Ghul (who was in fact Ducard himself; the one killed back at the league's old headquarters had been nothing but a decoy) from destroying Gotham, thus being praised as a hero and finally bringing a sense of hope to a city starved for it. However Jim Gordon pointed out to his new ally that there would be a risk of escalation now that someone like Batman exists._

_During this time, Batman at one point found himself making his way to Metropolis to stop one of Gotham's mob bosses from starting operations there, since Batman's appearance in Gotham had begun to unnerve the mob greatly. While this was going on, Batman and Superman met for the first time, and while it wasn't exactly a friendly encounter, it wasn't an antagonistic one either. However, both men quickly realized that they both had a common goal – which was to stop all crime and corruption wherever it was and inspire the common men and women to action – and at the moment, stop a mob boss from creating new operations in Metropolis. Using their respective talents, the two were successful in stopping the mob boss and Superman and Batman both ended up parting ways on fairly good terms, the latter feeling that if the former wasn't based in Metropolis, he would make a good symbol for Gotham in ways Batman could not. However, just to make sure Superman was the genuine article Batman decided to look into everything regarding the Man of Steel since he appeared in Metropolis. Needless to say, Batman was more than impressed with the information he found, as well as having a newfound hope that Superman could bring hope and justice to not only Metropolis, but the world._

_One year later, Batman was still fighting the good fight, but now he was searching for an out and hoping that a new symbol of hope (one without a mask) would emerge to pick up the slack and continue what he had started as Batman. For a while, it seemed that the new District Attorney Harvey Dent was that answer, and the fact that Dent himself seemed to understand on some levels what Batman was trying to do for Gotham only made the D.A. more of a worthy candidate. However, a new villain calling himself the Joker threatened to undo all that Batman, Dent, and Gordon were trying to accomplish, and while for a moment it seemed that the makeshift triumvirate had managed to beat the Joker at his own game, in reality the latter had been not one but several steps ahead of them the whole time, and not only did he succeed in killing Batman's childhood friend and Dent's fiancé Rachel Dawes, but he also managed to hideously scar Dent's face. In addition, The Joker even revealed to Dent that the mob had informants within Gordon's own unit that played a part in Dawes' death, which was unfortunately true (even though the Joker expertly deflected any part he played in Rachel's death). This, combined with the Joker's twisted words about how chaos is always fair no matter what the circumstances are, lead to Dent sparing The Joker on a coin toss, escaping the hospital and going after the two informants, who were none other than Detectives Wurtz and Ramirez. Deciding to use chance to determine their fates (since in Dent's twisted point of view, it seemed that it was chance that took Rachel's life), Dent ended up killing Wurtz, and spared Ramirez's life. And for the coup de grace, Dent then went after Jim Gordon's own family. Fortunately Batman had learned of this and tried to convince Dent to only punish the ones genuinely responsible for Rachel's death and to leave Gordon's family out of it, for they had nothing to do with what happened. Agreeing, Dent then flips his father's lucky coin and gets the scarred side, which leads him to shoot Batman (unaware of the latter wearing body armor), but before he can get the coin to decide his own fate Batman manages to stop Dent from shooting himself and saves Gordon's son. Unfortunately, Dent falls several feet to his death. Knowing the people of Gotham would lose hope if Dent's crimes were revealed, Batman decides to take the blame, to which Gordon reluctantly agrees to._

_Eight years later, Gotham was enjoying a relative peace (due to The Dent Act, which gave law-enforcement the power necessary to successfully stop organized crime), but it is sadly the calm before the storm, as a new enemy named Bane arrived in the city and began to wreak havoc on Gotham. Although Bruce Wayne had hung up the cape and cowl and was glad that peace was achieved, he still couldn't help but feel broken in every way. The loss of Rachel, along with the injuries he had sustained throughout his time as Batman had begun to take their toll. In addition, his decision to stop a nuclear project at his company that could provide clean energy for the city permanently (but would have also made the nuclear reactor a weapon in the wrong hands) had caused Wayne Enterprises to suffer financially. However, once Bane's existence became known to Bruce (along with learning of Gordon being shot), the latter realized he had stayed retired long enough and suited up as Batman once more to combat this new threat. However, Alfred had a great deal of reservations about his master doing this again, for he had hoped that Bruce would eventually be able to forge a life beyond the cape and cowl, and upon learning of who Bane was based on the information he had obtained, Alfred knew that in his current condition, his master stood no chance at defeating the mercenary. However, knowing that his charge was not going to budge from his choice to be Batman again, Alfred decided to leave once and for all, having no desire to see Bruce get injured more than he already had, let alone bury him along with his parents. Later on what Alfred had feared came to pass, thanks in no small part to the "help" of Selina Kyle – a woman who had stolen pearls belonging to Bruce's mother while masquerading as a maid at Wayne Manor and whom Batman had encountered while the former was evading John Daggett's forces. Having saved her, he convinced her to help him find Bane in exchange for a program called the "Clean Slate" – a program that could wipe out a person's information from every database on Earth, to which she agreed to. Unfortunately Batman discovered too late that it had been a trap set up by Bane, and although he fought valiantly, Batman's efforts were all for naught, and in the end, Bane had succeeded where everyone else had failed up to that point: he defeated _and_ broke the Batman._

_But knowing that Batman didn't fear death, and wanting to prolong his foe's suffering, Bane took him to a prison where Bruce would see his city get burned to ashes and be helpless to do anything about it._

"_When Gotham is ashes, then you have my permission to die."_

_Returning to Gotham, Bane began his master plan to destroy Gotham by first trapping all of the police forces underground. Then the mercenary not only destroyed all the bridges connecting Gotham to the rest of the world (save for one), but managed to locate the nuclear reactor Bruce had mothballed and then killed the only nuclear physicist capable of shutting it down. To top it all off, Bane then revealed the horrifying truth of Harvey Dent's crimes by reading the speech he had stolen from Gordon when the latter was captured and shot. As a result of all these actions, all the criminals were released and Gotham was singlehandedly run amuck. And with no police force to stop them, Gotham seemed doomed._

_Seeing all this, and having had as much as he could stand, Bruce Wayne – with the help of a fellow inmate – managed to recover from his injuries (as well as learn a bit more about Bane's history in the process) and made his way back to Gotham, and despite his initial disappointment with Selina's betrayal, Bruce still felt there was more to the cat burglar than she let on, and he also knew that Selina saw the Clean Slate program not as a means to an end, but as a means to a new beginning. Beseeching her help once again, to which she grudgingly agreed to (although deep down Selina wasn't as reluctant as she let on), Bruce Wayne/Batman – with help from Jim Gordon, Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Lucius Fox, and Detective Robin John Blake – managed to rise once more to stop not only Bane's rampage, but the legacy of Ra's Al Ghul once and for all…and by making the ultimate sacrifice…The Caped Crusader finally triumphed._

_Now after these two stories, one could assume that the epic ends there. However…such is not the case. For although Kal-El had finally defeated Lex Luthor and obtained everything he had desired in life (a new life with a wife and a son), and although Bruce Wayne had at long last succeeded in bringing genuine peace to Gotham (and began a Clean Slate of his own with Selina), it was not the end of either of the two men's story. In fact, it was only the end of a mere chapter, for what Kal-El of Krypton and his blood brother Bruce Wayne of Gotham didn't realize was that their story, as well as the story of several other people in their lives (and those they had yet to meet), had only just begun…_


	2. An Accident with Unintended Consequences

Chapter 1 – An Accident with Unintended Consequences

For all throughout human history, there has always been one question that seems to be the basis for everything ranging from pure curiosity to books, to even epic space operas seen on television and movies:

"_Are we alone in the universe?"_

Decades ago, the answer would genuinely go in range – some would say that we _are_ the only sentient race in the universe, and others would say that we are _not_, but nowadays, the answer to the question would be a resounding yes. Merely due to the fact that the planet Earth itself had a protector who was quite literally from another planet.

But even with that realization, that still did not curb the enthusiasm people had for wanting to see if there was life out in the universe. If anything, people were only galvanized more. So it wasn't a surprise that many at NASA were more than happy when it was revealed that a mission to send a rover to Mars had been given the green-light. While the mission was simply to see if the planet had environmental conditions for microbial life (as well as see if the planet was viable for future human explorations instead of just exploration from machinery), it was still seen as a step in the right direction.

So here was the Rover – dubbed The Curiosity – trudging along the Martian landscape, collecting samples every so often as it moved along, while NASA monitored everything from their home base in Washington DC.

* * *

"So, anything new?" Asked one of the NASA employees to their co-worker who was monitoring The Curiosity.

"So far, just the usual readouts we've gotten before." Replied the monitor.

* * *

As The Curiosity continued to make its way across the landscape, it then came to a stop near a makeshift hill to collect some more samples from the ground. However, as it began collecting said samples, its Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) began picking up strange readings coming from not too far in the ground where it was. Since the NASA monitor picked it up back on Earth he then then had the rover move into a better position so it could detect the radiation reading, which it did. However, no sooner had The Curiosity moved to its new position did the ground near one of its wheels then crack and give way before the Rover's equipment could detect the disturbance, but once it did it was too late, for part of the rover had crashed into the hole that appeared once the ground gave way. If one was able to see the Rover from a distance, it would look like it had fallen on its side, but in reality half of it was outside, while the other half was on in the inside part of the gap.

* * *

"Uh…we got a problem." Spoke the NASA monitor to his co-worker.

"What's going on?" Asked the co-worker.

"I don't know." Admitted the monitor. "All I know is that Curiosity was picking up some strange radiation readings. I had her move to a better position to get a better reading when all of a sudden the ground just gave way and made a hole. Now she's lying on her side like somebody pushed her over."

_Not good._ Thought the co-worker. "All right, keep monitoring her and try to run a diagnostic, I'm gonna let the big wigs know about this."

* * *

As the monitor would later find out, the Rover itself was completely intact, despite falling on its side. However, what the monitor didn't realize was that the ground that had given way was in fact a ceiling…to a place that had been long forgotten by a nearly-extinct race. It was a place where a final stand between two factions had been made long ago, and while victory had been won…for the winning side, the victory had still come with a very steep price. But now that the rover had unknowingly made a hole up in the ceiling, _what_, and most importantly _whom,_ had been trapped in there had begun to awaken.

"**The gas effects…are wearing off…"** Spoke one of the prisoners in its own language.

"**That…they are…"** Spoke another.

"**Look up there."** Spoke yet another one in a weakened voice as it gestured to the part of The Curiosity's chassis that was peeking through the hole in the ceiling, to which several other awakened prisoners took notice of.

"**Several of you latch yourselves onto it, but quickly disguise yourselves once you do. Wherever that device came from, we can't chance being spotted by another sentient race yet until we are at full-strength, and are certain said race poses no threat."** Spoke the first prisoner.

"**Understood. What shall you and the others do in the meantime?"**Asked the second prisoner.

"**We will alert the rest of our brethren who escaped the last battle that we are awakened again."** Replied the first prisoner.

In no time at all several of the prisoners latched onto the Curiosity and assimilated themselves onto the machine so as to throw off any suspicion by anyone who would come to investigate. Meanwhile, the first prisoner and several of its associates then walked over to what seemed to be an old console and did some kind of mechanical trickery with it to get it working enough to send out an encrypted signal. However, no sooner had it done that did the prisoner then notice an alarm going off, to which the prisoner then cut the power to the console, its work already accomplished in sending out the needed signal.

_A final safeguard?_ Thought the prisoner. _Very clever of them, even in death._

No sooner did the prisoner think that did it then look up to the ceiling where the Rover was.

_Or perhaps…not completely dead._ The prisoner thought.

* * *

(Elsewhere on Earth…)

"Ahhh!"

A man woke up with a start as he kept hearing a loud noise both in his ears and in his mind as he tried in vain to buffer the sound by covering the sides of his head with his hands, but to no avail.

Within a few moments, the sound faded away, but the man was still breathing heavily as he still held his head in his hands.

_It's not possible,_ the man thought. _There is no possible way, but if it did happen, and they escaped…then this world is in grave danger._ He finished as he then lifted his head from his hands, revealing a crimson glow in his "normally" brown eyes…


	3. Looking back and then going forward Pt1

Chapter 2 – Looking back and then going forward, Pt.1

(Two months later…)

_The sky cast a glow of light scarlet across the entire landscape. Although there was nothing but bare land for miles and then some, one could somehow feel that there had been thriving life once upon a time in this landscape._

_Or at least, that's what it felt like to him._

_But what seemed to be strange was that while he felt himself in what seemed to be a barren desert, he then felt the whole environment changing, for he then saw a flash of what looked like a tentacle crackling with electricity._

_But much like the landscape, the image disappeared after a few moments and everything went dark, only to take the form of a very large door sealed with a large metallic disc covered in intricately carved patterns._

_Then the image switched to a loud explosion in a desert that could only be rivaled by the pyrotechnics in a Michael Bay movie, which then changed into what looked like a military base built into a mountain, with tanks and other vehicles looking like they had been tossed about by a giant tornado._

_Before he could even ascertain what was going on, he then felt the image disappear, only to reappear with all the other images he had seen previously seen and begin to slide across his field of vision like album covers on an iPod classic screen but in a way that made them have a psychedelic glow to them._

_But what really got his attention was what he saw in the center of it all, for as the images streaked across his field of vision, he then saw a pair of glowing orange eyes staring back at him from a hidden face. The eyes seemed faint at first, but then the eyes started to glow brighter and brighter and the gaze became more intense until finally the man felt as if the eyes were burning a hole into his brain…_

"Ah!"

Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman then snapped open his eyes with a startle as he then took in his surroundings. He was back in his bedroom, with an alarm clock that hadn't sounded off, which meant he either knocked it off his bedside table, or he had woken up early. Of course, the fact that the little bit of sunlight was peeking through the windows' blinds helped the latter case. Not only that, but when he looked at his bedside table the clock was still there, completely intact.

_And with only fifteen minutes before I could _officially_ get up, huh? Well, might as well get an early start before Jason wakes-_

"_This is inconceivable!"_

Already recognizing Daffy Duck's voice, a smile crossed Clark's face as he then stepped out of his bedroom and into the living room, where the TV set was already on and despite being 6:45 in the morning, was showing a rerun of "Blooper Bunny", with his one and only son Jason Lane-Kent lying on the couch watching the segment and trying to do impressions of Bugs Bunny and Daffy (and doing a _very_ good job at it despite being only nine years old).

"Couldn't sleep longer either, huh?" Clark asked once the segment was over (and fortunately Jason did _not_ say Daffy's final line).

"Oh, hey dad." Jason replied with a smile before he answered his father. "Yeah, I tried, but no luck. But, at least I had an excuse to switch on the tube and watch some cartoons that are actually good."

"That would make two of us." Clark said with a smile as his son got up and moved over so Clark could sit and watch the upcoming Looney Toons segments as well.

* * *

If one was asked to do a study on all the major cities in the world and find the one common ground that all said cities have, it would be that everyone in the morning, whether it be early, middle, or late – is always on the move heading towards someplace. Whether it's to work, to a family member's house, whatever the case may be – but at any, every, and all times in the morning, people are constantly on the move heading someplace or getting ready to go someplace, and in his apartment on 344 Clinton Street in the city of Metropolis, Clark was doing the latter action – getting ready for work and helping his son get ready for school. But since Daylight Savings was not in effect, and since Clark had been unable to sleep once the small ray of sunlight hit him, he was up and about and making breakfast for himself and his son in between watching some classic cartoons. Fortunately his son had also inherited the former's ability to be up once the sunlight hit him, so that helped speed things up a bit.

For Jason, the fact that the sun came out as early as it did during the whole "no Daylight Savings" deal was more of an upside than anything else, especially since it gave the boy an excuse to watch the cartoons that came out early that morning (which turned out to be the classic Looney Tunes segments, which even his dad loved).

But even Jason couldn't avoid the fact that he had school to get to, so he quickly washed up and sat down to have breakfast with him once the latter was finished.

"…_and switching gears to the NASA side of things, although the chances of any new shuttle programs starting up have been rendered moot for some time now, Queen Industries and Wayne Enterprises have nonetheless stepped forward by forming a joint venture where both companies are now supplying the space program with some new toys to play with, specifically with a new series of multi-purpose satellites for both NASA and the general masses. Queen Enterprises Chairman/CEO Oliver Queen, along with Wayne Enterprises Chairman/CEO Lucius Fox hope this will be a stepping stone into not only breathing life into the space program again, but also begin a new venture into outer space, beginning with Mars."_

Clark listened intently as he drank his coffee along with the cereal, eggs, and toast he had prepared for himself and Jason. Although he was going to hear about Oliver and Lucius's joint project at the Daily Planet anyway, there was still something about hearing about it as it was happening, as opposed to hearing about it secondhand, and well after the fact.

"Y' know, it's kind of a drag that we can't lend some 'crystal' tech to those NASA guys, much less to Mr. Fox and Mr. Queen." Jason remarked as he drank his orange juice. "It would definitely get the ball rolling again, space adventure-wise."

"True." Clark admitted. "Unfortunately, that would also open up the chance for somebody to make weapons out of said tech."

"Sadly," Jason agreed. "But do you think we'll see another shuttle mission again?"

"Honestly, I wouldn't doubt it, despite everything. Plus, Mr. Oliver Queen and Mr. Lucius Fox have been pretty adamant about going forward with this project, so…anything's possible." Clark replied.

"Well, here's hoping." Jason said as he raised his glass of orange juice, to which his dad also followed with his coffee.

"So how'd you sleep? I know you got two quizzes today in music and science." Clark remarked.

"Yeah, uh…I slept good enough, so I think I've got those quizzes down pat." Jason replied, although the tone in his voice was suggesting otherwise.

"'You think'? You're not sure?" Clark asked.

"With the quizzes, I'm good…it's about something else." Jason replied honestly.

"What's up?" Clark asked, a look of worry crossing his face.

"Last night…I had a dream. But it wasn't your typical one."

"What was it?" Clark asked.

"It felt like…I find myself on a rooftop on the buildings here, and then I notice everything around me…changing."

"Changing like how?" Clark asked, becoming concerned and getting a sense of realization of what his son might be seeing in his dream.

"It's like…flashes." Jason explained. "It's like watching a slideshow on fast-forward. But I can still see what those scenes are like even though it's quick."

"What did you see?"

"A desert. But it's not like the deserts I've seen in pictures or TV, because the sky's not blue. It's like…brown and red and…"

"Brownish-red?" Clark asked, now knowing that his son's dream was what he himself had seen as well.

"Yeah, how'd you guess?"

"Because that's what I've been seeing in _my_ dreams as of late. Namely last night." Clark said.

"Okay, this is starting to sound like something out of one of those Chris Nolan movies." Jason remarked as he ate the last of his cereal and juice.

"I'll second that, but look, until we can figure out just what these dreams even mean, let's just keep our eyes peeled and not overthink it more than we have to." Clark suggested as he finished with his own breakfast. "Believe me, I know how tempting it can be _to_ overthink it."

"Good idea." Jason agreed.

* * *

After the father-son duo finished breakfast, they washed up, and headed out the apartment to Clark's car. In reality Clark didn't need a car to get to work, but since he and Jason couldn't super-speed over to the latter's school without attracting suspicion (even though Jason had super-sped to school on two occasions before, both of which were urgent according to the latter), Clark knew he had to get a car, and fortunately he was able to purchase one that worked well, but didn't look like the current year's model (even though his "late" friend Bruce Wayne had tried unsuccessfully to give him a top-of-the-line model by Clark's own choice after he and Lois married).

"Go knock those quizzes dead." Clark said earnestly once they arrived at Jason's school.

"Thanks dad." Jason replied with a smile. "And believe me, I'm counting on that." To which his dad and himself shared a genuine laugh and a high-five.

And with that Jason headed off towards his school as his father watched with a parent's smile. Once he saw Jason go inside the school Clark then headed off towards the Daily Planet.

* * *

_It's really amazing how much can change in the span of eleven years._ Clark thought as he entered the Daily Planet's lobby through that still pain-in-the-neck revolving door and made his way up to the main newsroom. Over the past five years since he got back from his odyssey to Krypton Clark had started to notice that the newspaper had begun to frame past articles of important events that had happened all through most of the walls. The idea had been both Perry White's and his nephew Richard's as a way to make clear just what The Daily Planet stood for and to differentiate it from the competition. While in recent years most publishers had gone the way of total sensationalism to stay afloat, Perry was determined not to go that route. And although Perry was now retired and enjoying the good life, he still made clear what his final request (or mandate, depending on who you asked) was to everyone on his final day at work, and fortunately Richard more than felt the same way, so as a result the newspaper never deviated from that request when the latter officially took over as publisher.

Unfortunately, economic times were now beginning to take their toll on the Planet, for sadly sales figures weren't enough to keep everyone's salaries at their current rate (unless one was to count a story that involved Superman, but even that only went so far), so Richard asked all the employees if they were willing to accept a pay cut. Those who did were able to keep their jobs, while those who didn't had no choice but to start looking for another job someplace else, to which Richard promised that he would supply references. Naturally some employees walked, while others agreed to the pay cut in order to stay (Cat Grant and Steve Lombard being among the latter group interestingly enough, and Jimmy Olsen as well), which Clark couldn't help but smile at the latter action, since it showed that there were people who cared about more than money.

As Clark glanced at the framed articles, there were definitely a few that caught his attention, namely the one that Lois had done of the interview with him years back, to even the article that talked about when both Superman and Batman were spotted in Metropolis stopping a mob dealer from opening up operations. When he got to the 9-11 articles he felt a wave of sadness and guilt for having not been there when it happened, but then feeling very humbled by the selflessness of the people that had helped others during that time.

_But then again, you don't need to be a Super-person to help somebody,_ He thought. _Just a good one._

Then when Clark got to the article Lois had written about why the world needed a Superman, he couldn't help but feel humbled once again, even though he didn't blame her for writing the previous article, "Why the world doesn't need Superman", despite what he had said to her later after he got the chance to speak to her _as_ Superman. Once things were resolved and Clark and Lois married, Lois took the Pulitzer she had won for her scathing article, put it in a small trophy box and placed said box in a far off corner of her closet never to be seen again.

Then once he got to the article that talked about Harvey Dent's death in Gotham and how Batman was responsible, memories then kicked up in Clark's mind as he remembered those days. During his makeshift trip around the world after returning to Earth he had stopped by Gotham to inquire what _really_ happened that night (for he had learned of Dent's death from the many newspapers he had been reading back in Smallville), and needless to say, once Bruce and Alfred (namely Alfred) were finished telling Clark everything, The latter was shocked and very sympathetic to his acquaintance/one-time crime-fighting partner's situation. While Clark had been told years ago by _both_ of his late father figures about how certain things are never always black and white, but rather grey, here was the first time where he actually saw the shades of grey close up. Although he now knew that Bruce (and Commissioner Jim Gordon) had in effect built a lie around Harvey Dent, Clark also knew that the alternative would only do more harm than good. People's hopes would be destroyed and chaos would run amuck all over Gotham again if the truth of Harvey Dent was revealed, and as much as Clark felt he should do something to help Bruce and try to rectify the situation, he also knew that Bruce made his decision, and for better or worse, Clark had to respect that and let the chips fall where they may, even though Clark had a sinking feeling that the lie Bruce and Gordon created would come back to bite them in the asses, and the result wouldn't be pretty.

And it wasn't pretty, for Clark then came to the article that talked about the masked mercenary named Bane showing up in Gotham and consolidating control over the city by using both the truth of Harvey Dent's actions before he died and the nuclear reactor stolen from Wayne Enterprises. Clark was tempted to fly to the city, but knowing that the trigger to the nuclear reactor was either in Bane's hands or in the hands of one of his lieutenants and that they would not hesitate to set the reactor off if they so much as saw Superman forced him to watch and observe, which had been agony for Clark. However, the fact that Jim Gordon and a detective named John Blake were still trying to keep hope alive was a relief, and showed Clark once again what Jor-El had told him so long ago: That the people of Earth have the capacity for greatness and _can_ step up to the tasks that they _can_ do on their own. But then Batman appeared again after escaping the prison Bane incarcerated him in and defeated the mercenary, and saved the city by sacrificing himself…or so everyone thought.

What many didn't realize was that just before Clark left Wayne Manor after hearing the truth about Dent from Alfred and Bruce, Clark had given Alfred a communication device that emitted a signal that only Clark could hear and would signal him if "extra" help was needed. Bruce didn't say much, but deep down he did appreciate Clark coming to see him and wished him the best (but that had been only after giving his Kryptonian acquaintance a bit of a what-for in regards to how he left the whole Lois situation before leaving for Krypton. However, Bruce knew he himself had made his own fair share of screw-ups, so he knew he wasn't one to judge, and admitted as much). When Bruce had taken the bomb out of the city and into the ocean (with The Bat on autopilot), he used the gadget Clark gave him to signal him and help the former get out of the blast radius before he got caught in it. In retrospect, Clark realized that had been the second time he had ever flown _that_ fast in his entire life (first time being when he literally turned back the world to save Lois). Fortunately, radars and satellites didn't get a lock on Superman because of the speed he was flying to help Bruce, so that helped make Batman's sacrifice all the more plausible.

It had been pretty interesting once Bruce told Clark what he was planning to do now that Gotham was saved, but Clark being who he was, respected his acquaintance/friend's decision. But he did tell Bruce that he wouldn't promise that he wouldn't try to look in on him (and by extension Selina Kyle as he would later find out) from time to time, to which Bruce just laughed, which was pretty infectious in a good way…

* * *

"_I guess it would be weird if you _didn't_ drop by every now and then, but don't worry, I got it covered from here on in." Bruce had said._

"_I know, but given that you still have to use that brace on your leg, are you sure you'll be able to handle things completely?" Clark asked._

"_Clark, I think the only thing worse I'll run into is maybe an occasional purse-snatcher or a mad Chihuahua in Italy." Bruce answered._

"_True." Clark agreed with a smile. "Well, then all I can say is best of luck to you."_

"_Thanks, and tell Jason I said hi." Bruce said._

"_Will do."_

* * *

Although he respected Bruce's decision, Kal-El still felt that what Batman had done should be told to the world, and so he went to Gotham as Clark Kent and from speaking to many people (Jim Gordon especially), to information he had been able to gather on his own, Clark then wrote an article that forever solidified Batman's symbolism to Gotham in the greatest of ways. Richard was surprised that Clark went that extra mile, but given that he now knew that Clark was also Superman, he was pretty sure Clark knew who Batman was under the cowl which explained why Clark went out on a limb to cover a story outside of Metropolis where rival newspapers were already trying to get a scoop on the whole crisis that came and went. The end result was great, for The Planet sold a lot of copies when the article hit print. That, plus seeing the Batman statue erected by the people of Gotham was when Clark knew Batman's symbolism wouldn't be forgotten in Gotham for a long time to come.

And then there was the article that talked about an incident in another city where some malevolent force was trying to consume Earth, and a person dressed in green with a Lantern symbol managed to stop it. Clark sadly hadn't been there to help because at that same time an AI from outer space called the Brain Interactive Construct (or Brainiac for short) had kidnapped Lois and Jason in an attempt to kill Kal-El so it would be free to collect the knowledge on Earth and destroy the planet after doing so. Although Clark defeated the AI, the fact that another entity tried to attack Earth while he was away fighting another enemy to save his family made him realize that he could not continue to do this on his own like some lone cowboy. He had tried to reach the Emerald hero after the fact, but the latter had disappeared just as quickly as he appeared. When he and Jason went to the Fortress for training and were taking a break in-between, Clark accessed the Fortress's data crystals to find out who the green-clad hero was and discovered that there was an organization of peacekeepers called Green Lanterns formed by an ancient alien race called the Guardians. They were an organization made up of different people from different planets who patrol the galaxies they are assigned to and protect said galaxies from threats of all kinds. What was most interesting was that there hadn't been an Green Lantern from Earth before until recently, which made Clark ever more curious, and when Jason took a look over his father's shoulder and read the same information, the boy's eyes went wide and suggested that his father should form a bowling team (or rock band) with Uncle Bruce and this Green Lantern so if more than one threat showed up on Earth, there would be more than one hero to tackle said threat. Clark laughed and said it would be a good idea, but the chances of any others agreeing to it weren't very likely. Plus, as he said to his son, Uncle Bruce retired, and even if he wasn't, he wouldn't agree to it because according to Bruce, he "isn't someone who plays well with others."

Jason of course retorted by saying that in regards to Uncle Bruce not being a team player, he didn't believe that any more than his father did, to which Clark only chuckled.

And then, just before he stepped into the main office, Clark then came to a giant picture of Lois posing in front of the background of the Daily Planet building.

IN MEMORIAM  
LOIS LANE-KENT

Although it had been two years since her death, Clark was still able to remember what had happened (consequence of having an eidetic memory). Interestingly enough, it hadn't happened as a result of being killed by some villain, but rather her trying to get to a story and rushing a red light, which led to her being hit by a truck whose driver had lost control moments before and had been trying desperately to stop his vehicle. Although a thorough investigation revealed that the driver wasn't intoxicated, and that the truck had been faulty well before the incident occurred, and that the driver tried to signal everyone to get out of the way and even called 911 immediately, it still didn't change the fact that a life was lost. However, no charges were filed against the driver (but some were filed against the company he worked for), and he himself was cleared of any wrongdoing (although the man voluntarily handed in his license after the whole deal was resolved). Unfortunately, for Clark and his son Jason, they lost a wife and mother respectively, and many were the times during and after the funeral that the father-son duo cried themselves to sleep until they couldn't cry anymore. Bruce and his girlfriend-turned wife Selina heard what happened and flew to Smallville (under their new names Dr. Thomas Eliot and Elva Barr-Eliot) from Italy to give their condolences (even though Selina didn't know Lois personally or her family except from what Bruce told her), which helped. Richard also offered Clark as much of an extended leave as he wanted to which Clark gratefully accepted (despite the pay cut, Clark didn't need the money for himself, and he had saved up enough over the years to where he could still support his son without a job if need be). Between sorting through Lois's paraphernalia (with help from his mother, Jason, Ben, Bruce and Selina when the latter two were there), and being even more of a diligent father than before (not that he hadn't been already, but after Lois's death he kind of turned into what Jason would call "Marlin from 'Finding Nemo'"), Clark still wasn't able to find a way to make _full_ peace at the time, despite trying to be strong for his son and himself.

But then one day when Jason was at school Clark was at the apartment putting the final photos in the large family album and once he was finished, he then took a look at the final picture he had placed, which had a picture of himself, Lois, Jason, Martha, and Ben, with another picture of his late foster father Jonathan right next to them. And at that moment, that was when Clark realized that despite the pain of losing Lois, he didn't feel like a _total_ wreck, and although he wasn't 100% sure how to carry on, he was still going forward, not backward. Not only that, but throughout all this he never neglected his son (even though he _had_ become slightly overprotective), in addition, as Clark looked back on all the memories he had shared with Lois, he didn't have any feelings of sadness there at all, only happy, pleasant ones. And as he glanced at the picture of himself and Lois with Jason, he found that although Lois was gone, she wasn't gone in spirit. Although they had only been married for the better part of three years, Clark couldn't say that they didn't live each life to the fullest, much less love each other as well as their son. And on top of that, Lois, like both of his late birth parents and late foster father, would want him and their son to keep on living. And if Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman was being honest with himself, he already knew deep down he wanted to and was taking steps in that direction because of it.

"_Some people can live a lifetime in a minute."_

_I think Al Pacino tapped into something much deeper than he realized when he said that line in "Scent of a Woman"._ Clark had thought as a full, warm smile crossed his face for the first time in a while.

Finally making peace with himself once he came to that realization, Clark then spent the rest of the day sprucing up the apartment before heading outside for some lunch and taking in the sight of everything as he strolled along.

Later when he picked Jason up from school and they made it back to the apartment Clark apologized for having been overprotective and for pretty much turning into the clownfish father from the Disney-Pixar film. Jason smiled and said it was okay and that they both had needed to cry completely before they could go forward in life again, and fortunately, they both had.

Ever since then, the father-son duo became really tight as can be and had pretty much lived life to the fullest as best they could and then some from then on, up to this very day for two years. And while both Jason and his grandmother Martha wished for Clark to find someone again, they knew he had to do it on his own. While the desire more than crept up in Clark's mind every now and then, he still placed raising his son above finding love for himself again.

_Granted, on the surface it doesn't look like it would _be_ a big deal, but if I was to date and then after a time go to the next level with a woman, I would have to tell her that I'm also Superman, and that besides being a widower, my son is slowly developing powers he inherited from me. Now it's not my nature to be pessimistic, but there aren't that many women who would be able to handle all that in the long-term._ Clark thought to himself. _But hey, no point in worrying about things you have no control over. Besides, Ma already put it best when she said, "You never know who's out there.", but until then…_

Focusing his attention back to the here and now, Clark then stepped into the main office of the Daily Planet where some reporters were already congregating (Jimmy, Cat, and Steve being among them).

"Good morning everyone," Richard White said as he stepped out his own office to greet the rest of his staff. "Well, I'm sure most of you may have heard this morning about Queen Industries and Wayne Enterprises' little joint project…"

_Nice to know even though some things have changed, other things have still stayed the same._ Clark thought with a warm smile as he and his co-workers listened intently to what Richard had to say.

* * *

AN: If you've seen the "Blooper Bunny" segment on Youtube (namely when Daffy loses his cool), you'll know what the duck's final line was before the scene cuts. When I was first putting the ideas together for this story, I figured eleven years seemed to be a good number to be able to chronicle the events that happened in Superman: The Movie (1978), Superman II (Donner cut), Superman Returns, and The Dark Knight Trilogy in just the right way. And as you can probably tell, I'm also using the Green Lantern movie as a reference as well. Initially I wasn't sure whether to go with that movie or not, but given what I've got planned for this story, I figured, "What the heck?" With Jason being in the loop about a lot of things his dad does as Superman, I figure Clark could either keep the truth from his son (in which case it wouldn't work anyway), or he could just tell him. So I went for the latter choice. Oh, and chocolate-chip cookies for anyone who can guess where I got Bruce and Selina's new names.


	4. Looking back and then going forward Pt2

Chapter 3 – Looking back and then going forward, Pt.2

"Okay, that should just about do it."

The little boy and his mother grinned as the doctor finished the check-up on the boy (which had been nothing short of excellent), reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of stickers for the boy to choose from. The boy chose one, and the doctor gladly handed it to him, both as an act of kindness and as a way to celebrate the boy's clean bill of health.

"Thank you so much Dr. Eliot," Spoke the woman in a fluent Italian tongue.

"You're very welcome," Replied the doctor in confident Italian and a kind smile on his face. "And remember to stay healthy, okay?" He then said to the boy.

"Will do!" The boy said.

"All right. Well, I'll be seeing you next time."

* * *

After closing up his makeshift doctor's office for the day, Dr. Thomas Eliot – formerly known as Bruce Wayne – made his way back to his house.

In retrospect, it had been pretty interesting to Bruce how things had turned out in a year since he left Gotham. He had finally achieved his goal of bringing his city – his father's legacy – to a genuine peace at last, as well as leaving behind a legacy of his own in the crime-fighting sense. Although he hadn't been lucky in love the first two times with Rachel and Miranda/Talia, Bruce was glad he had gotten the better end of the deal with Selena. And on top of that, he had managed to use the Clean Slate program (which Selena held on to interestingly enough) to forge a new identity of his own, as well as begin a career that didn't involve beating up thugs and punks: treating and healing people.

In the case of Selena Kyle (or Elva Barr-Eliot as she was called these days), she had reinvented herself as a jewelry expert in one of the town's shops. The fact that she was one of the few people in the world who could tell the difference between good jewels and ones that were just downright cheap and lame made her very much invaluable as an employee (Of course, no one had any idea that Selina's past lifetime as a cat-burglar was the reason she was sharp as a tack in her profession).

In their self-imposed exile, both Bruce and Selina at some point decided to take the plunge (although Selena knew that these days most people didn't get married but rather lived together) and marry, since within the year that they were together, they both found something in each other that, in many ways wasn't something they had been looking for (or at least in Selina's case anyway), but yet somehow was something that they both wanted and needed. And once they crossed that threshold in _every_ way, both Bruce and Selina knew in their hearts that it was right.

However, that wasn't to say that the two didn't have their fair share of arguments, for they did, but they more than made up after the fact. In fact, Selina joked that it was amazing they didn't have five kids already, given the numerous (and varied) make-up sex they had within the whole year.

Plus, the fact that there would be occasional visits from Clark and his son Jason also made things interesting. And as much as Selina tried not to at first, she became attached to Clark's son and in no time at all, she pretty much spoiled the kid rotten by taking him out for a gelato or some big Italian restaurant whenever he would visit. As a result, Jason would come to see Selina as another aunt type figure besides his Aunt Lucy from his mother's side.

Plus, the fact that the kid wasn't able to tap into his father's strength at will gave Selina more of a reason to teach the boy a few tricks here and there, along with the practical combat training Jason had been getting from his father and Uncle Bruce.

In all, things had been nothing short of great for Bruce, and as far as he was concerned, he wouldn't change anything about it.

Eventually the former Dark Knight made it to his and Selina's house. It was a little bit out of the way and more towards the countryside, but not too much to where Bruce had to travel far. Plus, it was big enough for there to be several rooms besides the master bedroom. When Bruce and Selina bought it the former had wondered what made him go for it specifically, but whatever the reason he had at the time didn't matter, for at least when Clark and Jason visited them the rooms came in handy.

When he entered, he found Selina already there taking out plastic packages of Italian take-out and setting them on the counter.

_Good thing we don't get too many visitors, if at all._ Bruce thought. _If we did, we'd be in trouble, cooking-wise._

"I'm sure you're enjoying the view from _your_ end Bruce, but I think a little help might be appreciated." Selina said semi-sarcastically as she turned around to look at him.

Bruce then chuckled. "Well, if I remember correctly, I did actually try to do that last time (which I think was just yesterday), and you nearly had me in a choke-hold because I put one of the groceries someplace else instead of where you put it."

"You say choke-hold, I say constructive criticism." Selina retorted. "Plus, I think I had you in a…position you weren't complaining about. Or at least a _certain_ part of you anyway."

"Okay, I stand corrected." Bruce conceded.

* * *

After having quite a hearty meal, Selina and Bruce crashed on the sofa as Bruce switched on the news to one of the CNN channels, which was currently running a segment on the Wayne/Queen joint project.

"Still like to keep an eye on things, even when retired, huh?" Selina asked as she laid her head on Bruce's shoulder.

"Well…just a little." Bruce admitted.

"I'm still kind of surprised you entrusted your…_other_ assets to that rookie detective." Selina noted.

"Call it a leap of faith." Bruce said. "Besides, in the short time I got to know Blake he more than convinced me he had the goods. Plus, he's not on the force anymore, so he has a little more free-time."

"Yeah, outside of bartending anyway." Selina said. "Even though yeah, it does make sense to take up a job like that if you're gonna go 'party' late at night. Plus, you do tend to hear things you wish you didn't while you're serving up a martini or two."

"Very true indeed." Bruce agreed.


End file.
